oakbar
Well-known member
We've got some new calves at Oakbar Ranch. Hopefully, I've attached pictures. Let me know what you think!!
kane1598 said:I really like the sin city bull calf. what was his birthweight like? Oakbar, you seem to know alot about shorthorn club calves, who is your pick to make winning steers? Sin City?
The Sin Sity calf weighed 80 pounds at birth. The cow had him really easy on 2/20( -15 degrees below zero) and he almost froze his ears off. I got him in as quick as I could and eveything seems Ok now though. We've also had some excellent calves out of King Kong and this cow--2 feeder calf champions--and some of the clubby bulls--Who Made Who, Double Stuff, & Hide N Watch.
As far as picking bull for clubby calves goes, I think you really have to know your cow and what she "nicks"with. I've seen some really good Sin City calves although not as many as his brother--Vegas-produced. Unfortunately, Vegas is TH positive. Many of the clubby guys really don't care too much about TH and PHA as they are looking for a terminal cross animal. Some even seem to prefer it to get the extra hair, stoutness, and square body type. We have had both TH and PHA positive females that we've had to breed around. I really don't like it but if you pay attention you can manage it and still get some really nice calves. I won't generally use a carrier bull if I'm looking to make a cross for a purebred calf, however. If you do have a carrier cow you really need to test all the offspring which can get kind of expensive and time consuming. I usually steer the bull calves and test the heifers. Our Myrtle Bo cow is out of two carrier parents (in fact there are carriers on both paternal and maternal sides for generations)and yet she is clean for TH. In fact, the only reason I got her bought was that the former owner thought she was a carrier. We got the test back a week after we bought her and she was clean. Sure brought a smile to my face, though!!
More and more, I think there are enough clean bulls that almost anyone should be able to find one without sacrificing to much in quality!!